Replies to post #91661 on Your Economy (No Politics) (YE1)

[mr40]

"The government should go after the fraud in the Food Stamp Program".

The annual cost of food stamp fraud nationwide is three-quarters of a billion dollars.

Food Stamp Fraud, Rare but Troubling - The New York Times
Although the percentage of food stamp money lost to fraud is small, any amount is bad publicity for a program already under scrutiny.

The problem is that the size of the fraud and the government's failure to change things. PUT THE PERSON'S PICTURE ON THE EBT CARD and only that person can use the card! THAT WOULD STOP THE SALE OF EBT CARDS ON CRAIGSLIST, TWITTER, FACEBOOK AND IN SHOPPING CENTER PARKING LOTS.

There are thousands of stores that buy EBT cards for cash.

Why food stamp fraud is 'fairly rampant' at corner stores in some Chicago neighborhoods

In Chicago, more than 140 stores have been disqualified from the SNAP program since 2014. A store getting booted from SNAP effectively means getting shut down. A customer might trade $100 worth of benefits for $50 cash, leaving the other $50 for the retailer.
$975 million is lost annually to food stamp trafficking.

In Illinois, about 1.9 million people receive assistance through SNAP, up from about 1.2 million people some 10 years ago.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-food-stamp-trafficking-0821-biz-20160819-story.html

Food stamp fraud is committed by thousands who lie to get an EBT card!